Chanukah

Cantor Fine wanted to share the following ...

"...we had our first services (during Hanukah) in what will be our sanctuary for the next few months. We said a Shehecheyanu as we begin our journey of fulfilling the dream!"

It was a lovely service in our temporary home.

Today Hamilton Construction installed the protection for the stain glass windows by building a wall to protect our prized stain glass from construction.

As you will notice from the photos - the pews are now gone ...

... the carpet has been removed



... the ark is being stored


... the yiskor wall is being protected

Renovation Update

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We’ve finally begun! During Hanukkah, the sanctuary was emptied out. Thanks to our office staff, custodial staff, and members of the Brotherhood, the choir loft, closets, and all moveable objects were moved out of the sanctuary. Brad Harkavy and an assortment of volunteers trudged through the snow to take out much of the mahogany from the pews and the bimah – thanks Brad! It’s nice to know that some of our wood will be recycled! Hamilton Construction Management, our contractors, came in during the rest of the week and took out what remained of the pews and the carpet. Our sanctuary is now almost completely empty (check out the pictures on the blog)- a strange sight, to be sure. It’s like an empty canvas now, just waiting to be filled it!

Next week, the stained glass protection will be mounted, and the old organ will be taken out with the help of Peter Krasinski, our wonderful organist, who is so appreciative of the gift of this organ.

Just after New Years, the abatement contractors will set up the protection as they prepare to remove all hazardous materials from the space. These materials are mostly floor tile and some insulation that is basically inert but State Law requires it is handled by liscenced contractor. As this begins, there will be absolutely NO access to the sanctuary as the space will be hermetically sealed with a negative pressure ventilation system and contained with sheets of heavy plastic. The contractors will be using the side entrance to access the space and to properly remove and dispose of any hazardous material. As in any abatement job, we will follow very stringent procedures, in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws. And air monitoring will be done by an inspector - throughout the project each day –the inspector will be independent of the abatement contractor. The process is expected to take about a week. During this process, and throughout the entire renovation, the rest of the building will be completely accessible and safe.

We will try to provide ongoing updates throughout the renovation, and we have a new blog where you can also see pictures, and find out what progress is being made.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Mike Wolfson or Elyse Shuster.

Moving Forward

On December 20, 2008 the last B'nai Mitvah will be celebrated in the Sanctuary before the renovation begins. On Sunday December 21, 2008 we will begin preparations for the renovations. A small group of volunteers will make sure the Sanctuary is ready to turn over to the contractor before they begin demolition. This is an exciting time!

We will use this blog to post construction updates and to keep the community informed. Currently, we are finalizing the contract and schedule to finally begin.

Step one will be for the Contractor to protect the stain glass. The carpet and whatever pews are left will be removed and a liscenced abatement contractor will be coming in to remove the flooring. When we began this process a hazardous materials engineering firm, tested the sanctuary and found that the floor contains asbestos tile. In Massachusetts, the Department of Environmental Protection regualates how this can be removed. The first two weeks of the renovation will be primarily the removal of the tile. The process involves air testing at every stage and whenever work is being done the Sanctuary will be sealed. At the end of the abatement further air testing is done to ensure that everyone is protected.

In January we will see much more activity as the renovation begins to take shape. Feel free to post questions and we will attempt to provide answers as we go from the years of planning to the reality of renovation.